[ESPN] MLB suspends spring training, delays Opening Day at least two weeks

Baseball should be changed.

 

Perhaps... but that union is as solidified and steadfast to the end...literally.

 

Question is number of games. My guess would be in the 60s.

 

Sounds like they are close to an agreement on a 60 game season

 

If 60 prorated is the offer on one side and 82 prorated is the offer on the other side, does this mean we're getting a 70 game season with expanded playoffs?

 

60 appears to be close to the compromise. MLBPA is trying to squeeze out to 65 games. The players insistence on pro-rated salaries means that the biggest losers here will be fans that lose about three weeks of the season baseball people who were fired over the last month (edit).

 

So everyone except the Pirates, Rangers, The Royals and Orioles.

 

Spoiler

Peace soon might be at hand. But not yet.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday that Major League Baseball and the Players Association have developed a framework that “could form the basis of an agreement,” but the union made clear nothing has been agreed to yet and that the 60-game season proposed by the league is not long enough.

The number of games is a huge issue, one source said, leaving work to be done amid progress. The commissioner met with union head Tony Clark face-to-face on Tuesday, a precursor to the league’s latest offer.

MLB’s fourth official proposal included a major concession: An offer to honor the terms of the parties’ March agreement and pay the players their full prorated salaries. The league had insisted the agreement did not apply to games without fans, and in each of its three proposals had asked the players to take a significant pay cut.

Under the latest offer, the players in the abbreviated 2020 season would receive approximately 37 percent of their original projected earnings, a slight increase from the league’s previous offers, all of which topped out at around 35 percent.

The league also asked the union to consent to expanded playoffs in both 2020 and 2021 and waive its right to file a grievance over scheduling. The 60-game season would take place over 70 days and begin July 19 or 20.

The 10 days off in the proposal seemingly leave room for the parties to negotiate a greater number of games. One player agent estimated the final number could be 65, saying that figure with full prorated salaries would get players to 40 percent of their original projected earnings.

The talks accelerated on Tuesday in Phoenix during the sitdown between Manfred and Clark. Manfred requested the meeting, which he said lasted for several hours. The personal interaction was significant, considering that the parties mostly had communicated electronically since March.

“We left that meeting with a jointly-developed framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement and subject to conversations with our respective constituents,” Manfred said in a statement Wednesday. “I summarized that framework numerous times in the meeting and sent Tony a written summary. Consistent with our conversations yesterday, I am encouraging the Clubs to move forward and I trust Tony is doing the same.”

A union official disagreed with any suggestion that a form of a tentative agreement had been reached. Nonetheless, the series of events offered a marked turnaround from Manfred’s revelation to ESPN on Monday that he was “not confident” the season would take place. That pronouncement, too, marked a stunning reversal. Just five days earlier, Manfred had told the same network “unequivocally” that baseball would be played in 2020.

The commissioner’s goal in raising the possibility of a canceled season was to force the resumption of talks and achieve a negotiated settlement, sources said. Some player advocates, however, suspected a stall tactic intended to better position the league to fight a grievance if it moved forward with an implemented season at a later date.

Under a March agreement between the parties, Manfred reserves the right to set the schedule as long as the league pays the players their full prorated salaries and plays as many games as possible. But sources told The Athletic that owners on a conference call on Monday discouraged the commissioner’s office from imposing a season against the players’ will, believing the union was likely to counter such a move by filing a claim for financial damages.

The players on Saturday night essentially dared Manfred to implement a schedule, with Clark saying in a statement, “It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.” Dozens of players have echoed that comment on social media in recent days. But rather than act on his own, Manfred historically prefers to reach settlements. Deputy commissioner Dan Halem sent the union a seven-page letter on Monday outlining a large number of issues the union would need to approve before the parties could move forward with the season.

In addition to health and safety protocols, the issues included on-field rules, scheduling details, start dates and the postseason player pool, all of which had been outlined in the March agreement. None of those concerns are expected to be an obstacle to an agreement, however.

The league overcame seemingly the biggest obstacle by agreeing to pay players their full prorated salaries. The final challenges include figuring out the number of games over which they’ll actually receive those salaries.

 

This is great news. How it will lay out: HOU wins 2020 WS. Haters blast Stros for 2nd asterisk title. Bregman/Altuve/Correa respond by going back to back and winning 2021 WS as well.

 

Are they really squabbling over 10 additional games at this point?

Ah well... the longer they wait, the more Covid regains steam, and the chances of them getting through a full (partial) season unscathed remains slim to none... basically we are back where we were in April at this point.